Paul Newman's best friend and Connecticut neighbour offered his personal view of the late actor as tributes continued to flood in today. The writer AE Hotchner befriended Newman in the 1950s and was a co-founder of the Newman's Own food company, that launched in 1982.

"Paul was an unadorned man," Hotchner explained. "He was simple and direct and honest and off-centre and mischievous, and romantic and very handsome. All of these qualities became the generating force behind him." He added: "He was the same man in 2008 that he was in 1956 — unchanged, despite all the honours and the movie stardom, not a whisper of a change. That was something – the constancy of the man."

Newman served as best man at Hotchner's wedding in 1970. When the writer remarried last June, the actor filled the role again. "He's the best man in my life, so why wouldn't he be the best man at my wedding?" said Hotchner.

Hotchner added that he last visited Newman at his Westport, Connecticut home a few days before his death. "We didn't really talk about anything other than some funny things that happened," Hotchner told the New York Times. "As I was leaving, I said, 'Well, I'll keep in touch.' He said, 'Yeah, it's been a hell of a ride.'"

Elsewhere, Hollywood was still lining up to honour the 83-year-old star, who died last Friday. "He is the benchmark of what you want to become as a professional in this industry; he led a normal life, he did great work," said Leonardo DiCaprio. "His philanthropic work, beyond being an actor... has a legacy that's going to live on."

"Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them," said Sally Field, who acted with Newman on Absence of Malice, while Lord Attenborough described him as "a true Hollywood giant like Jimmy Stewart, I'd say he was the last of the greats."

Sam Mendes, who directed Newman in his last great role in 2002's The Road to Perdition, recalled a story from the set: "There was a clause in his contract that if we went over by a day, beyond the two weeks he had agreed to work for us, he got paid an additional $250,000, if you can believe it," Mendes remembered. "He made the studio pay for the extra two days and then gave it straight to his charity, and that's the sort of man he was. He was so disinterested in personal gain and personal wealth and he lived very modestly."